I think you mean "Will my decision to advocate something be based on the appearance (but not content) of a fansite"? That answer is no.

If you are offered a company car, and your choices are between a Ferrari and a Lada, would you pick the Lada because on your way to the office, you saw a dirty, dented, pale-pink Ferrari?

Now, I may recommend people not going to Perlmonks if it started using red coloured Comic Sans fonts on a bright green background, with all the headers blinking, but even then I'm not recommending against Perl.

I think you mean "Will my decision to advocate something be based on the appearance (but not content) of a fansite"? That answer is no.

JavaFan,

I'm failing to understand why it has to be an either or scenario. Will improving the design take away from the content? Do you think that people will stop contributing to the site? If I and/or a few others volunteer our time to work on this would it ruin your perception of the site? Would you stop using it?

I'm just trying to understand if you simply feel design has no relevance in the decisions people make or if it ultimately hurts a site (namely this one).

"...the adversities born of well-placed thoughts should be considered mercies rather than misfortunes." — Don Quixote